I consider a term that will be used to seek advice from someone like me is “serial entrepreneur.” Although I have had a leading ophthalmology practice in my area for over 26 years, I have continued to launch additional corporations and organizations and collaborate with friends and colleagues to bring recent ideas to life throughout my profession. A fast Google search will inform you that about 30 percent of entrepreneurs are in a similar situation. For successful business leaders, entrepreneurship tends to have this effect.
In addition to the leading Eye Centers of Tennessee, I had the honor of co-founding a business incubator called The Biz Foundry in Cookeville, Tennessee. In just over 10 years, we have worked with seemingly countless entrepreneurs at various stages, raised roughly $15 million, opened two recent locations, helped start a micro-lending fund, and even launched an angel investment fund – a rarity for a city in rural Tennessee. This experience, combined with the knowledge I have cultivated throughout my profession, has put me in a unique position to not only understand the challenges young corporations often face, but also help them overcome these difficulties.
Today I would love to share 4 things that young managers and entrepreneurs should keep in mind as they embark on the difficult but rewarding journey of owning a business.
- You made this decision yourself. Live with it.
If you found yourself running your personal business, it implies that at some point you made the decision you didn’t wish to be an worker. Remember that you simply made this decision. At some point in your journey – whether tomorrow or five years from now – you’ll face a challenge. Remember that you simply did it yourself – you’ll be able to’t blame anyone else.
This may appear to be a hard pill to swallow, but there is freedom and a unique sense of success in this reality. For a very long time in my profession, I kept a note in my desk drawer that simply said, “I am responsible.” Although these difficult moments can sometimes make you’re feeling lonely, they are all yours too. You resolve easy methods to navigate them – you are not at the mercy of anyone else’s decisions. And do not forget that successes are also yours.
- You WILL be beaten.
Like the section above, know that your entrepreneurial experience is not going to be without its difficulties. Customers will write bad reviews, you’ll encounter licensing hurdles, and competition will enter your space. There is an infinite list of things that may go unsuitable, and some of them could seem not possible to repair – heck, your corporation may even fail. Many, many times on this journey you’ll encounter unpleasant things. Remember it’s a part of life. Expect challenges and be ready for them.
So what’s the positive here? All the fights you fight will make you stronger. The cool thing about entrepreneurship is that there is almost no option to lose. If your first plan doesn’t work, try one other one. Find something that does it.
- Be disciplined enough to provide your customers what they need.
While this is necessary to maintain in mind from the starting, it is especially necessary for individuals who have passed through the difficult times I discussed above. example is the use of my experience in my ophthalmological practice. When the LASIK craze got here around in 2000/2001, everyone jumped on it and it was really hot – until it wasn’t. We still offer laser eye surgery, but we found that the best need for our clients on the other side of the LASIK bandwagon was for regular eye care.
In the software industry, neglecting discipline can appear to be spending your whole team’s time building something completely recent to make developers pleased when what your customers really want is for you to repair a few bugs in their existing product. Of course, there are times when it is value introducing something recent to the market. But selling what people wish to buy is a lot easier than forcing people to purchase a fun but no-profit widget you created.
- Know what your finish line is.
Another option to say it is: Remember what you made the decision to do. When you begin out, remember to jot down down your goals. This way you’ll be able to reflect on what you initially planned in comparison with where you are today. For example, you may say that you simply intend to bring home a certain quantity of income each 12 months. Five years later, you could have exceeded that goal, but you are overworked. Don’t lose sight of the incontrovertible fact that at one point you were pleased with your initial revenue goal.
Of course, there is at all times something you’ll be able to do to grow, evolve and improve. But it is important to remember that sometimes “enough is enough.”
Your freedom is the reward
When you select to turn into an entrepreneur, you open yourself as much as difficulties that you could not even see. But back to the first point on my list, this is a decision you made for a reason – remember that reason. The most successful entrepreneurs I have seen find significant reward in the freedom that entrepreneurship provides. Sure, money will be great too. But your first motivation should be that you may do whatever you wish. You are free to make decisions how you wish, solve problems how you wish, schedule how you wish, take on clients how you wish. It’s easy to get bogged down in on a regular basis life, but at all times remember that your future is in your control.